Caribbean pricing

[jjeffjb]

Why is the Veendam more than $400. more than the brand new Eurodam for a balcony room in February '09? My guess would be passenger capacity. Any other reasons? I've done the eastern Caribbean many times. I like the Veendam intinerary but I don't want to pay $800. more (for 2) for a week long Caribbean crusie. Your thoughts?

[innlady1]

I've been watching the prices in the Caribbean for a year or two...the smaller ships are always more expensive than the Vista class ships...and now the new Signature Class Eurodam.

[sealovers]

I would like to know the reason also. I would much rather be on the new ship. The prices for the Veedam have been out of sync with the other HAL ships for quite a while. It doesn't appear to be associated with booked capacity.

[hammybee]

Supplu/Demand:

There are substantially fewer balcony cabins on the Veendam than there are on the Eurodam.

[Twickenham]

Why is the Veendam more than $400. more than the brand new Eurodam for a balcony room in February '09? My guess would be passenger capacity. Any other reasons? I've done the eastern Caribbean many times. I like the Veendam intinerary but I don't want to pay $800. more (for 2) for a week long Caribbean crusie. Your thoughts?

Because the Veendam's balcony rooms are 'Verandah Suites', not regular balcony rooms (they used to be called 'mini-suites'). I've noticed that they're usually priced equivalent to the Superior Verandah Suites on the Vista class ships.

[grannynurse]

I think it's that the Vista ships have more verandas, and attract a younger demographic in general; but the cabins are smaller on the Vistas than on the S and R class ships. The vistas have more cabin availability and lower prices.

Reasons for higher prices on the older smaller ships: There's the added fuel costs for Veendam I believe, because she sails from Tampa. Veranda cabins are also larger and on these ships are considered mini-suites with more amenities than the verandas on Vistas.
I've also noticed that the veranda cabins on S and R class ships fill much faster.
An example would be the Maasdam's yearly rt transatlantic which is almost full a year in advance of sailing. Smaller ships that sail from less crowded homeports and do slightly or very different itineraries seem to be more in demand among HAL ships; another example would be the Zaandam rt cruises to Hawaii. AND people will pay to take these cruises. They charge more because they can sell these cabins and these cruises.

Some cruisers, believe it or not, do not want to sail on a brand new ship's first season fearing the unfamiliar and the untried and wanting to see it work out it's bugs so to speak.
Many HAL cruisers were reluctant to try the Vistas at first but that is no longer true as each new vista sister has gotten progressively better.
Sorry to be so long winded but these are my ideas on the subject and I wanted to voice them.
GN

[Sundagger]

Many HAL cruisers were reluctant to try the Vistas at first but that is no longer true as each new vista sister has gotten progressively better.
Sorry to be so long winded but these are my ideas on the subject and I wanted to voice them.
GN

I think the ideas are quite correct. I'd just like to mention that there ARE many HAL regulars who have tried the Vista ships and still prefer the S & R. I tried the Oosterdam in January and will probably revert to the S & R ships in the future. There may be some great pricing on an itinerary that a Vista ship has that may entice me back, but in general, I'd prefer to be on the smaller ships.

[dakrewser]

"newer" is not the equivalent of "better"

[Krazy Kruizers]

We noticed that the prices of the R and S class Caribbean cruises began to rise when the Vista class ships entered the market.

[Roz]

"newer" is not the equivalent of "better"

I agree with Dave. I recently sailed on a Vista for the first time, and was disappointed with the overall ship and cabin layout. I had a great cruise (I've yet to figure out how you have a bad time on a cruise!), but the Vistas would not be my first choice.

Roz

[meterman2]

I noticed the change in pricing (higher on the R & S) about 14 months ago. We cruised on the Volendam our first two times (balcony), and the prices were not half as high as now.